TABLE OF CONTENTS. Evil In Bonhoeffer s Creation and Fall, Discipleship, and Ethics Dietrich Bonhoeffer And Justice...63

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1 TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Contents...Fout! Bladwijzer niet gedefinieerd. Preface...3 Introduction...4 Historic Influences in Bonhoeffer s Life...10 Bonhoeffer s Family...10 The Blossoming of the Theologian of the Church...13 Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Jewish Question...18 Bonhoeffer and Political Resistance...24 Conclusion...27 Evil In Bonhoeffer s Creation and Fall, Discipleship, and Ethics...29 The Introduction...29 The Beginning...31 Lessons from Creation and Fall...42 Evil in Discipleship...44 Evil in Bonhoeffer s Ethics...48 Evil in Christ, Reality, and Good...48 Successful Evil?...50 Evil and History...51 The Church s Evil...53 Radical Evil...53 History and Good 1 & God s Love and the Disintegration of the World...57 Church and World I...61 Conclusion...62 Dietrich Bonhoeffer And Justice...63 Important Topics in Ethics...63 Justice in Christ, Reality, and Good...65 Justice in Ethics as Formation...69 Guilt, Justification, Renewal...75 Ultimate and Penultimate Things...77 Church and World I...80 Conclusion...83 The Effect of Bonhoeffer s Theology on his Endurance...85

2 The Impact of Bonhoeffer s Family on His Endurance...86 The Centrality of Unity with God...89 The Meaning of the Church for Bonhoeffer s Endurance...98 General Conclusions Bibliography...113

3 PREFACE I would like to first thank my supervisor, Prof. Dr. Martien Brinkman, for his energy, time, and patience while leading me to finish this dissertation. While I have great respect for your quick intelligence, professional demeanor, and clear direction, my most vivid memory is the day that I thought I could not endure to complete this work. On that day your pastoral heart combined with your broad intercultural knowledge and provided the words and encouragement that led to the completion of this dissertation. This work exists thanks to your care and kindness in leading me through the process. I enjoy having you as a supervisor, both in this dissertation and in our work with the International Reformed Theological Institute, and have learned much from you regarding leadership and scholarship. I also thank my supervisor, Prof. Dr. Eddy Van der Borght. I was a difficult student for you to supervise due to the many hours that we disagreed and discussed parts of this dissertation, but each discussion occurred because I felt safe being honest with you. The gift of compassion, patience, and kindness that has been given to you is beyond measure. I feel immensely honored to be your first promotion. I would like to also thank Prof. Dr. Abraham van de Beek. The time that I spent in class with you was a unique learning experience. I appreciate the time that you have given to your students to discuss and examine theological principles. You are a theologian s theologian. Thank you for your words of wisdom regarding Bonhoeffer scholarship and your part in the initial supervision of this project. Special thanks must be given to my dear friend and paranimf, Suzanne Huisman. The care and love you have shown by taking care of me while we worked through this process cannot be described. Your personality and presence every day is a great joy for me. While speaking about professionals and work-related encouragement, I would like to thank the academic faculties and administrative personnel of the Faculty of Theology and the Faculty of Philosophy of VU University Amsterdam. The camaraderie and challenge that you offer has made me a better person and a better academician. I must also thank members of my family who have made this possible. My parents, Calvin and Dorothy Mosher, who always told me I could do anything I set my mind to. Thank you for listening to me as I enthusiastically explained my project. Your expectations that I could achieve success in my life were my first lessons in egalitarianism when it related to gender; my sister, Virginia Bair, who is always proud of me and supportive even while so far away; my brother and sister-in-law, Pete and Cindy Mosher, for the years of nurturing me, keeping me on the right track, and being examples of good people. I would also like to thank my in-laws, Hubertus and Maartje van Es-Zwagers for their support and pride in my work. Finally, I thank my children for being the real source of my own endurance especially my sons, Asa and Noah Bryant. I cannot describe the quiet support and encouragement that you have always given me while I completed this work. You are more precious than words can describe. A final thank you is due to my husband, Thomas van Es. Thank you for the many ways you have relieved my tasks so that I could focus on this work. While this first dissertation is an once-in-a-lifetime achievement, I know that the real achievement in my life is being loved by a soul as kind and precious as you. Without your love and support this dissertation would not have been completed.

4 1 INTRODUCTION Dietrich Bonhoeffer. For Christians throughout the world, the name conjures various emotions and mental pictures. Outside of Christianity, he is hardly even known. While some may find this a pity, it is fitting for a theologian whose home was the church and whose desire was for the health of that church. The first time I seriously heard of the name of Dietrich Bonhoeffer was as a seminary student reading his Letters and Papers from Prison in a Christian devotional class. At the time, while also studying Martin Luther King, Jr., I was struck by the tenacity of both theologians while under extreme pressure from their own faith communities as well as their own governments. How could they continue serving in communities that were so disappointing and where the work of Christ was not demonstrated, I wondered. From this the question for this dissertation arose. What caused Bonhoeffer to endure? Growing up as a Methodist and having studied at a Methodist seminary, there was a certain influence of Arminianism involved in my question. Obviously, there is the presupposition within the question that Bonhoeffer had the choice to endure or not. This is a reflection of the understanding within Methodism that people can lose their faith or backslide as phrased by John Wesley in his sermon, A Call to Backsliders :...But that hope soon fails: They then cease to strive, and "are taken captive of Satan at his will." 4. This is frequently the case with those that began to run well, but soon tired in the heavenly road; with those in particular who once "saw the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ," but afterwards grieved his Holy Spirit, and made shipwreck of the faith. Indeed, many of these rush into sin, as a horse into the battle. They sin with so high an hand, as utterly to quench the Holy Spirit of God; so that he gives them up to their own heart's lusts, and lets them follow their own imaginations. 1 Since this theology is accepted by the author, she chose to enlarge the question to consider how Bonhoeffer continued to endure without walking away from the faith that he had before the occurrence of the Third Reich. That part of the question also includes for a Methodist the understanding of holiness. In the Methodist tradition it is believed that true Christianity brings an obvious change into the life of the Christian, as Arminius taught: But when we treat about man, as a sinner, then sanctification is thus defined: It is a gracious act of God, by which he purifies man who is a sinner, and yet a believer, from the darkness of ignorance, from indwelling sin and from its lusts or desires, and imbues him with the spirit of knowledge, righteousness and holiness, that, being separated from the life of the world and made conformable to 1 John Wesley, A Call to Backsliders, in The Sermons of John Wesley, 1872 Edition, Thomas Jackson (ed.), point 3 and 4. Found at on May 30, 2009.

5 God, man may live the life of God, to the praise of the righteousness and of the glorious grace of God, and to his own salvation. 2 Wesley himself believed that once a person is justified they will no longer live sinfully: The very least which can be implied in these words, is, that the persons spoken of therein, namely, all real Christians, or believers in Christ, are made free from outward sin. And the same freedom, which St. Paul here expresses in such variety of phrases, St. Peter expresses in that one (1 Pet. iv.1,2): He that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; that he no longer should live to the desires of men, but to the will of God. For this ceasing from sin, if it be interpreted in the lowest sense, as regarding only the outward behavior, must denote the ceasing from the outward act, from any transgression of the law. 3 For Wesley the most outward sign of faith and the repudiation of sin was the exhibition of love within the Christian s character. For Wesley, love is the necessary outworking of a true faith in God and is tied to justification: The chief sense of the words is, doubtless, this: That whatsoever we do, and whatsoever we suffer, if we are not renewed in the spirit of our mind, by "the love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost given unto us," we cannot enter into life eternal. None can enter there, unless in virtue of covenant which God hath given unto man in the Son of his love. 4 There is no escaping Wesley s demand for love as a sign of justification by claiming a love for God while hating your neighbor, or even the stranger in your midst. Wesley was very clear about this point: I only mention one more of the properties of this love: "Love is not puffed up." You cannot wrong one you love: Therefore, if you love God with all your heart, you cannot so wrong him as to rob him of his glory, by taking to yourself what is due to him only. You will own that all you are, and all you have, is his; that without him you can do nothing; that he is your light and your life, your strength and your all; and that you are nothing, yea, less than nothing, before him. And if you love your neighbour as yourself, you will not be able to prefer yourself before him. Nay, you will not be able to despise any one, any more than to hate him. [Nay, you will think every man better than yourself.] As the wax melteth away before the fire, so doth pride melt away before love. All haughtiness, whether of heart, speech, or behaviour, vanishes away where love prevails. It bringeth down the high looks of him who boasted in his strength, and maketh him as a little child; diffident of himself, willing to hear, glad to learn, easily convinced, easily persuaded. And whosoever is otherwise minded, let him give up all vain hope: He is puffed up, and so hath not love. 5 Because of the above teachings by Wesley, one can understand that the author has a presupposition that a true Christian community should be a community that does not exhibit evil by the absence of love, but a community that loves and treats the downtrodden with special protection and care. This understanding of Christian community, from a different faith 2 James Arminius, Diputation 49, On the Sanctification of Man, Question No. 4, in The Works of James Arminius. James Nichols, trans. Found at 49 on May 30, John Wesley, Sermon on Christian Perfection, in Love Redeeming Work: The Anglican Quest for Holiness, compiled by Geoffrey Rowell, Kenneth Stevenson, and Rowan Williams (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), John Wesley, On Love, in The Sermons of John Wesley, point III. Found at on May 30, John Wesley, On Love, in The Sermons of John Wesley, point II. Found at on May 30, 2009.

6 tradition than Bonhoeffer s, caused wonderment when reading about Bonhoeffer s endurance in faith. If one knows the occurrences of the exact opposite of love that came from Hitler s political party, the question enlarges to how Bonhoeffer endured when he saw fellow Christians even the Reich church federation aligning themselves with Hitler s violent and exclusive regime that hatefully targeted people in their own country. Why did Bonhoeffer not become discouraged and question why the absence of love was so prevalent in the churches that aligned themselves with Hitler? While understanding these arguments and questions may be unreasonable presuppositions for some in other faith traditions, it led to the study before us. This study is not a comparison between Wesley and Bonhoeffer. Although, Wesley s theology and its understanding is the contextual background of the author and provided the impetus and history for the questions asked. Questions Since the observation of Bonhoeffer included the wonderment that he endured in his faith when he saw it scantily exhibited in his own religious environment, the question was asked about how he continued to believe in the transforming power of salvation when it was not frequently (in the questioner s mind) exhibited in his own church community. How could he still believe after seeing many in the Christian community refuse to act lovingly to the victims of the Third Reich? What would have been loving and just for the Christian community to do towards the victims of the Third Reich? The questions posed also occurred from contextual events. The proposal was formulated shortly after the World Trade Center attacks of September 11, At that time, tensions were high between faith religions with accusations of evil being used not only to condemn terroristic attacks, but also opinions that might disagree with the Judeo-Christian norm found in much of my native USA. This constant use of the word evil led me to ask what we really know about evil and was our definition of evil a religious propaganda tool? Did evil occur simply from a lack of love (and therefore a problem with saving faith), or are there other aspects of evil that we need to take into consideration? This led to the idea that Bonhoeffer, a theologian who lived during and resisted against the Third Reich, may have insight into evil and faith. Other private situations in the author s life developed the accompanying question, How does one keep their faith when facing people who act in an evil manner while at the same time claiming to be Christian or maybe just moral. This was another question that Bonhoeffer seemed well positioned to answer. As for the question regarding justice, the author questioned how in difficult circumstances one finds the path to acting justly in muddy choices. For the same reasons as named above, the question regarding justice was asked: What is justice, and how does one act justly in difficult situations offering opposing ethical claims. Finally, it was assumed that if Bonhoeffer had opinions about these two topics they would be part of his character that also contributed to his endurance. Although, we must be careful to point out that these two questions were not expected to offer the complete answer about his persistence, but would directly indicate whether the questions of evil and justice played a role in, and to what extent they were important to, Bonhoeffer s endurance. Method The method used was simple but effective. Through the method of close reading the author asked Bonhoeffer the above questions in order to ascertain if he had an opinion regarding the questions and if they were important in his theology. It was determined that a systematic and chronological approach to his writings would offer the most comprehensive exploration and

7 highlight any changes that occurred in his thinking. Sanctorum Communio was chosen because this was the beginning work that Bonhoeffer wrote. Creation and Fall was chosen because it deals with the beginning, including the beginning of evil (due to the fall). Discipleship was included because Bonhoeffer exegeted the Sermon on the Mount and therefore evil was addressed in that work. Ethics was chosen because this was the work that Bonhoeffer wrote during his resistance and during the time of the Third Reich. Letters and Papers from Prison was chosen to compare Bonhoeffer s final years with his previous work in order to see if there was new theology that arose from his latter experiences. Although close reading implies a focused approach to the theologian s own writings, secondary literature was introduced when it pertained directly to Bonhoeffer s theology and the topic of endurance. Secondary literature that introduced other topics in Bonhoeffer s theology or was contextual rather than directly dealing with Bonhoeffer s use of his theology in endurance are not included. While bright and competent Bonhoeffer scholars such as Christiane Tietz and Kirsten Busch Nielsen are beginning to write about Bonhoeffer and his theology regarding evil, the offerings are still scant. Peter Frick, author of Bonhoeffer s Intellectual Formation, makes note of this situation and the cause for it: On the other hand, the fact that his written oeuvre was published slowly, in bits and pieces, and concentrated initially on the major and popular works meant that research itself was directed along the path of the published works. The inevitable consequence was that the emerging picture of Bonhoeffer was tinted with a spiritual, theological, ethical or religionless colour. 6 The author is aware of these materials regarding other aspects of Bonhoeffer s theology and the influences upon his theology, but since they do not deal with the topic of Bonhoeffer s view of evil directly, they have not been used for reference. In some instances, this literature is listed in the bibliography and, if directly pertinent to the study, is footnoted in the body of the study. In relation to the subjects of evil and justice, there is simply too much information written on these topics, both in the Christian market and the general market, to be able to deal with each subject in a satisfactory manner in one dissertation. Therefore, a choice has been made for material that has relevance for the topic of endurance in Dietrich Bonhoeffer s life. The assumption in this method is that we would learn something about how Bonhoeffer saw his society and context, and we would learn about his theology throughout his development and resistance. It is assumed that human beings can only react and rely on the knowledge and belief system that they possess. Therefore, Bonhoeffer s beliefs would impact how he endured, or he would have discarded them. The author is aware with this method that she is doing exactly what Frick criticized in his introduction: Correspondingly, much of the lay and scholarly interest in Bonhoeffer proceeded in a specific manner: since Bonhoeffer was a man of such strong convictions that he would choose to die at the hands of the Nazis rather than be found compromising these convictions, the question arose what kind of assumptions had been the cause and backbone of this man s life and world view. In other words, the fateful end of Bonhoeffer s life prompted the questions of its intellectual and ethical grounding. 7 6 Peter Frick, Introduction, in Peter Frick, ed. Bonhoeffer s Intellectual Formation (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2008), 1. 7 Frick, Introduction, 1-2.

8 The author believes with the historical background of Bonhoeffer these will always be the driving forces behind a scholarly or lay interest in the theologian. As well it should be since resistance was important enough for Bonhoeffer to lose his life over. However, the theologian should speak for himself about what was important to him and from his own perspective without being molded into a champion for a cause that may not have been his own. Therefore, the author hopes her approach is in agreement with Frick s continuing analysis: The main problem here is not the raising of these questions, but the kind of angle and direction they occupied in the overwhelmingly retrospective approach to Bonhoeffer s thought. Clifford Green rightly rejects such an approach as a teleological bias or teleological method, especially with regard to Bonhoeffer s theology. 8 The author hopes that by choosing to start from the beginning of Bonhoeffer s work and systematically walking through his manuscripts that she is, in fact, doing what Frick sees as a need in studying Bonhoeffer: it is apparent from even a fleeting look at the International Bibliography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer that there is much room and a great need for investigations that examine Bonhoeffer s theological formation on their own terms. 9 The Purpose for This Study While Bonhoeffer is the case study used, enlarging the Bonhoeffer reception was not the primary reason for this study. Attempting to add a small bit of information to the question of why a person endures in their faith is the purpose of this study. Therefore, it is hoped that this work will not primarily enlarge the Bonhoeffer materials, but will be a benefit to systematic theology instead. Endurance is a topic that gains little attention in modern theology. There are other cases studies examining Christians who successfully endured hardship, such as John Piper s work, The Roots of Endurance: Invincible Perseverance in the Lives of John Newton, Charles Simeon, and William Wilberforce. However, the benefit of this study is that the subject has, in addition to activism and resistance, a substantial offering of theological work. Therefore, we can examine the actual theology of Bonhoeffer to understand what theology he held and how his theology impacted his endurance. This study asks if there are beliefs or contextual situations that help an individual endure outside of normal faith propositions. Is there a certain understanding that Bonhoeffer possessed that gave him strength when he encountered trying times? And is there something in theology that adds to that endurance? The assumption is that the answers to these questions will be a benefit to the faith. Not only in providing answers regarding one Christian s endurance, but also by providing foundational theological information regarding endurance that can be supplemented and enlarged by further studies. Arrangement of the Dissertation This work is arranged in five chapters. Chapter one is the introduction to the work. Chapter two examines the childhood of Dietrich Bonhoeffer throughout his young adult life and his participation in the assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler s life until his imprisonment at the 8 Frick, Introduction, 2. 9 Frick, Introduction, 3.

9 age of 39. This chapter is written in a chronological time frame rather than treated as subjects independent of the time they were important to Bonhoeffer. The works used in this chapter as resource materials are primarily the biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer that his friend, Eberhard Bethge wrote, and Bonhoeffer s PhD dissertation that was later published as a manuscript, Sanctorum Communio. This chapter investigates the personality development and influences in Bonhoeffer s early years and, therefore, includes his desire to become a theologian. It also considers his passion for the church that he addressed in Sanctorum Communio. In chapter three the problem of evil is addressed. In this chapter we ask Dietrich Bonhoeffer what he believes evil is, where it comes from, and how it affects his endurance. The source material for this chapter is Creation and Fall. Creation and Fall was chosen because Bonhoeffer discusses evil within it and, in particular, because of the question of the origination of evil. Since Bonhoeffer lectured on creation in this book, he also found it necessary to treat the origin of evil. This was the deciding factor for choosing Creation and Fall as the second manuscript for consideration. Since Discipleship discusses evil due to the exegesis of the Sermon on the Mount, the material within Discipleship that covers evil has been included. Due to the fact that Bonhoeffer s last work, Ethics, contains many references to evil similar to Creation and Fall, Ethics is also included in the evaluation. The progression through these works will highlight Bonhoeffer s initial thought and show any development in the mature theologian. Chapter four follows the same steps, and justice is the topic for this chapter. Since Bonhoeffer lived during the time of the Third Reich and was witness to many acts of injustice, Ethics was chosen as the book that contains the materials he wrote while dealing with these acts of injustice. Chapter five addresses Bonhoeffer s endurance. It examines the information found in the previous chapters and uses Bonhoeffer s last writings, Letters and Papers from Prison, to verify that the findings are accurate. The assumption in chapter five is that if the themes chosen helped Bonhoeffer to endure in faith until the end, then they should be found in his final materials. Chapter six is the conclusion for the work. Constraints and Limitations of the Study The most noticeable limitation for the study was limited materials regarding endurance. Most available sources in this area are not of scientific quality; but rather, Bible studies or character sketches. Therefore, there was not much qualitative material available for use. Qualitative studies were mostly Calvinistic theology and focused on the idea of perseverance of the saints from the presupposition of eternal election and support for that argument. It is not the purpose of this dissertation to reargue the centuries old debate between Arminianism and Calvinism regarding election, but is entered into from the understanding of Wesleyanism and the issues that surround this theological perspective. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to learn from one individual what thoughts, theology, and influences he had that contributed to his endurance throughout his resistance, imprisonment, and until his death. The hope is that this work will lead to a better understanding of the three subject areas evil, justice, and endurance through the examination of one Christian theologian and will stimulate further study in the area of endurance through other case studies.

10 2 HISTORIC INFLUENCES IN BONHOEFFER S LIFE Bonhoeffer s Family Dietrich Bonhoeffer was born into a remarkable family a fact that he was aware of. His family was not only aristocratic, but also intellectual. Dietrich fit well into both of these categories, which along with his cultural influences developed his distinctive personality and influenced how he performed theology. His mother, Paula Bonhoeffer, née von Hase was the daughter of a countess Clara von Hase, née Kalckreuth. 10 It was from this side of the family that Bonhoeffer inherited his artistic talents and his awareness of the cultural aspects of his environment. His grandmother s father and brother were famous painters, and Eberhard Bethge Bonhoeffer s biographer and friend, writes that in his parents home and that of his grandparents Hase, Dietrich was surrounded by the paintings of the Kalckreuths and their teachers, friends, and students 11 Included in this lineage was the fact that through Dietrich s maternal great-aunt his mother actively engaged in the court at Potsdam. This introduction into the social scene of aristocratic Germany made its mark on Bonhoeffer. Exposed to social life and its requirements, there was a certain, proper behavior expected of the Bonhoeffer children, and which served Dietrich even in his years as a theologian. Bethge says that it gave him a certainty of judgment and manner that cannot be acquired in a single generation. 12 While the Bonhoeffer parents raised the children in a home that sheltered them from many of the difficulties of a less fortunate heritage, they were at the same time exposed to prestigious family friends, such as Adolph von Harnack, 13 Karl Holl, 14 and Reinhold Seeberg 15 all valuable contacts for a young man who became a theologian. On the other hand, his family was also a family of intellectuals due to his father as well as his maternal great-grandfather. While his maternal side offered a renowned theologian (Karl August van Hase, a professor of church and dogmatic theology), his father was famous in his own right. Karl Bonhoeffer was a well-known psychiatrist, who became the head of the psychiatry and neurology department at Berlin University the leading professorship for 10 Eberhard Bethge, Dietrich Bonhoeffer: A Biography (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2000), Bethge, Bonhoeffer, Bethge, Bonhoeffer, The Dictionary of Historical Theology says that Harnack was the outstanding church historian of his day and one of the most influential academic administrators in the Wilhelmine empire. The Dictionary of Historical Theology, Trevor A. Hart, General Editor. Richard Bauckham, Jan Milic Lochman, Paul D. Molnar, Alan P.F. Sell, Consulting Editors (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000), Professor of church history at the University of Berlin. 15 Professor of systematic theology at the University of Berlin and supervisor of Bonhoeffer s doctoral dissertation.

11 Historic Influences in Bonhoeffer s Life 11 psychiatry and neurology in Germany. 16 This meant that the Bonhoeffer family was deeply involved in the world of academics. Bethge offers a further picture of the home where Bonhoeffer s personality developed. He says about Paula Bonhoeffer that she was a strong and involved presence in the life of Dietrich. She homeschooled the children during their primary years because she was critical of German schooling. Bethge says that under her excellent start the children were able to skip entire grades and eventually take the school graduation examinations at a remarkably early age. 17 However, she was involved in more than education. Bethge says she was able to make every task interesting and help the children over any obstacles. 18 He also says, Despite all her energy, she never stifled any sign of initiative in others, but encouraged it to develop in its own way. 19 In reading Bethge, one receives the impression that Bonhoeffer s mother was a strong but warm and nurturing presence in Dietrich s life. Reading about Bonhoeffer s father is different. While it is apparent that Bethge has great respect for Bonhoeffer s father (Bethge s grandfather-in-law), it is also apparent that from this influence Bonhoeffer learned reservedness. Bethge says Karl Bonhoeffer was always present at family dinners, but the children s table manners were strictly supervised, and they were expected to speak only when asked about events of the day. 20 Bonhoeffer s sister, Sabine, describes that her father developed their ability to speak clearly and concisely. 21 The other sister, Christine, reported that when he was needed he was as firm as a rock. 22 The guidance from both of these very strong personalities formed Bonhoeffer s personality. In addition to his aristocratic mother and famous intellectual father, other individuals of achievement surrounded Bonhoeffer. His oldest brother, Karl Friedrich, was an outstanding chemist who split the hydrogen atom and received invitations from universities throughout the Western world. 23 His brother Klaus was an international lawyer who worked for the League of Nations and later became legal representation for Lufthansa, while one of his brother-in-laws was Hans von Dohnanyi, who became a military judge in the Abwehr Germany s military intelligence. The reason that this family line is important is threefold. First, it demonstrates the cultural and academic abilities and standards that made it possible for Bonhoeffer to enter into any profession that he had capabilities in. In fact, his parents once had him play piano for a well-known virtuoso because they thought that Bonhoeffer had talents that could have allowed him to become a professional musician. 24 We also see that Bonhoeffer s social and intellectual circle meant that most doors in Germany would have been accessible if not open to him, regardless of what career he chose. The second observation about his family is that it provided a sheltered culture wherein Bonhoeffer theologized during his early years ( ). In chapter three, when we study 16 Bethge, Bonhoeffer, 21. Berlin University is now known as Humboldt University in Berlin, and was the university where Einstein was a professor until he left for Princeton University (USA) as a result of pressure from Nazi anti-semitism. 17 Bethge, Bonhoeffer, Bethge, Bonhoeffer, Bethge, Bonhoeffer, Bethge, Bonhoeffer, Bethge, Bonhoeffer, Bethge, Bonhoeffer, Bethge, Bonhoeffer, Bethge, Bonhoeffer, 37.

12 12 Historic Influences in Bonhoeffer s Life evil, it will become apparent that Bonhoeffer developed an idea about ethics that works very well for cultured or educated individuals, or for cultures with a strong hierarchical system of governance. However, one must question if his method of ethics works for a more populist audience. This is a weakness that must be attributed to his family and educational environment. When he worked in Berlin and also while he studied in New York City, Bonhoeffer had exposure to the working class population, but for the most part rationality and the properness of his family and social connections surrounded him. 25 The third important point that we notice is that this family was what also, in essence, determined Bonhoeffer s death. Had he decided to remain only a theologian fighting for the freedom of the church, he may not have been killed. The reason for his death came not as a result of his theology, although naturally his theology played the major role in his decisions, but because of his connections to his brother-in-law, Hans von Dohnanyi, as well as his other brother-in-law, Rudiger Schleicher, and brother, Klaus. 26 We will see how these connections led to his death later in this chapter. Within this family to be a theologian was a decision that was a bit unusual because Bonhoeffer was not really a child of the church. While his immediate family was moral and socially conscious, they were not deeply religious. As a matter of fact, Bonhoeffer s decision to be a theologian did not impress his father, and later Karl Bonhoeffer wrote to Dietrich, At the time you decided to devote yourself to theology I sometimes thought to myself that a quiet, uneventful minister s life, as I knew it from my Swabian uncles and as Mörike describes it, would really almost be a pity for you. 27 To point out just how unusual this was in the Bonhoeffer family, we will include autobiographical material from Bonhoeffer that describes the decision as a bit of a surprise and a burning embarrassment for Dietrich as well. One day in the first form, when the master asked him what he wanted to study, he quietly answered theology, and flushed. The word slipped out so quickly that he did not even stand up; having the teacher s gaze and that of the whole class directed at him personally and not at his work, and being suddenly called upon to speak out like this, gave him such conflicting feelings of vanity and humility that the interruption of ordinary class conduct seemed an appropriate expression of the consternation caused by the question and the answer. 28 However, while his own answer amazed Dietrich, he was sure in his decision. Why Bonhoeffer was committed to theology is not a simple question to answer. Bethge thinks it was in competition to his illustrious brothers and sisters combined with his early exposure to death (by living across from a cemetery and from losing one brother during WWI). 29 While that decision might never be answerable, what is an important point for this section is that by reviewing Bonhoeffer s family we see that Bonhoeffer s choice to be a theologian was not a choice that was made as the last choice. It is noteworthy that Bonhoeffer chose to become a theologian after being raised in such an erudite environment although, until he visited Rome, Bonhoeffer treated theology in the scientific manner that was common within his family and plunged with intellectual curiosity into theology as a branch of 25 Bethge, Bonhoeffer, Rudiger Schleicher and Klaus Bonhoeffer were also members of the resistance against Hitler, and the Gestapo murdered them in Berlin on April 23, Bethge, Bonhoeffer, Bethge, Bonhoeffer, 40, italics mine. 29 Bethge, Bonhoeffer,

13 Historic Influences in Bonhoeffer s Life 13 knowledge. 30 Still we see that this was a decision based not on social experience, but from Bonhoeffer s own desire. Obviously, if he chose to be a theologian when he had a whole smorgasbord of choices before him, he was serious about his choice. We must remember these important points when we later consider Bonhoeffer s motivation during the Third Reich. Theology was Bonhoeffer s choice and the primary influence in his work and life choices. Now that we have considered his family, the second issue that we must consider is Bonhoeffer and the church. Here again, we see another perplexing development in Bonhoeffer. Bonhoeffer, after spending a year studying theology in Tübingen, was able to spend time studying in Rome. Little did he know that this decision would map out his passion and his future. It was in Rome that Dietrich Bonhoeffer fell in love with the church because of his exposure to Roman Catholicism but he remained Protestant. The Blossoming of the Theologian of the Church It can be said that Bonhoeffer is the theologian of the modern Protestant church. Not because he developed institutes as John Calvin did, or even led reform as Luther (although Bonhoeffer attempted it), but because Bonhoeffer had a passion for the institution of the church that few Protestant theologians possessed. As we said, the fact that Bonhoeffer focused on the church is somewhat an enigma. Perhaps it was because the church was largely a stranger to the young man who decisively decided to become a theologian, and therefore she intrigued him. It was not because it was his family s habit to attend church. Renate Wind records that Dietrich did not have what the majority of theological students bring with them as a matter of course socialization in the church. 31 It was even more negative than that. Karl Bonhoeffer s rationalism and Paula Bonhoeffer s vitality cut them off from a church in which the mould of a thousand years lies under the gowns. 32 Eberhard Bethge agrees with Wind. Only later did the church enter his field of vision. Unlike theologians who came from families that were active in the church and theology, and discovered the existence of the world only later, Bonhoeffer embarked on his journey and eventually discovered the church. 33 This discovery did not happen until Bonhoeffer studied in Rome in Here he became truly aware of the church. He wrote in his diary that through a Roman Catholic service he was able to begin to understand what the church is. On Sunday afternoon to Trinità dei Monti. It was almost indescribable. About 6 o clock around forty young girls who wanted to become nuns were brought in a solemn procession. The organ began and they sang their vespers with great seriousness, with incredible simplicity and grace. The whole thing was so fresh, and made an unprecedented impression of the deepest piety. When the door was opened again after the brief half-hour, one had the most splendid day, the first day on 30 Bethge, Bonhoeffer, Renate Wind, Dietrich Bonhoeffer A Spoke in the Wheel. Trans. John Bowden (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1992), Wind, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Bethge, Bonhoeffer, 44.

14 14 Historic Influences in Bonhoeffer s Life which I gained some real understanding of Catholicism I believe I am beginning to understand the concept of the church. 34 When he was in Rome, he was only 18 years old, but, according to Bethge, Bonhoeffer was tremendous(ly) impact(ed). 35 The liturgy impressed him, but even more the universality of the church 36 challenged him. Bethge writes that in comparison to the Roman church, the church at home struck him as provincial, nationalistic, and narrow-minded. 37 Bonhoeffer also wrote compared with the tremendous scale of the ceremonies here, the Protestant church often looks like a small sect. 38 The large scale of Rome left a lasting impact on him. He was so impressed and the church became so important to him that it later became the topic of his doctoral dissertation, Sanctorum Communio. To be able to interpret Bonhoeffer correctly, one must understand the central nature of the church for him. Clifford Green, the English editor of Sanctorum Communio for the English edition of the Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works, correctly asserts that to understand, the theology of Dietrich Bonhoeffer requires a through understanding of Sanctorum Communio, his doctoral dissertation and first published work. Here are found central ideas that inform all his writings and, indeed, his life notwithstanding theological and personal developments associated with later works such as Discipleship, Ethics, and Letters and Papers from Prison. 39 John W. de Gruchy, giving a glimpse of what will be addressed in the following section, also understood the importance of Sanctorum Communio. He writes, His radical thoughts in prison are built on foundations laid in Sanctorum Communio and Act and Being; they also reflect the deep biblical spirituality and commitment to the church which characterized his witness to Christ during the church struggle against Nazism. 40 Sanctorum Communio was Bonhoeffer s treatment of the church and indirectly, his treatment of society. His subtitle was A Theological Study of the Sociology of the Church. However, in his preface, he writes, the issue of a Christian social philosophy and sociology is a genuinely theological one, because it can be answered only on the basis of an understanding of the church. 41 We find from reading that sentence that for him the church was central to understanding life from a Christian worldview. We also read in that sentence that his relationship to society was based upon his understanding of the church. In fact, Clifford Green also writes that Sanctorum Communio set(s) out the distinctive conceptuality which is formative for Bonhoeffer s whole theological development. I call this conceptuality 34 Italian Diary in Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Jugend und Studium Dietrich Bonhoeffer Werke, Vol. 9, edited by Hans Pfeifer in collaboration with Clifford Green and Carl-Jürgen Kaltenborn, Munich, 1986 and quoted in Wind, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Bethge, Bonhoeffer, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Dietrich Bonhoeffer Werke, vol. 9, 88 and quoted in Bethge, Bonhoeffer, Bethge, Bonhoeffer, Bethge, Bonhoeffer, Clifford Green, Editor s Introduction to the English Edition, in Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Sanctorum Communio, Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works, vol. 1. ed. Clifford J. Green, trans. Reinhard Krauss and Nancy Lukens (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1998), John W. de Gruchy, The Reception of Bonhoeffer s Theology, in The Cambridge Companion to Dietrich Bonhoeffer, ed. John W. de Gruchy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), Bonhoeffer, Sanctorum Communio, 21.

15 Historic Influences in Bonhoeffer s Life 15 his theology of sociality. 42 This is because Bonhoeffer believed that community with God exists only in the church. 43 For Bonhoeffer the church was not simply a gathering of Christ s followers on a Sunday morning or a religious community where Christians could come for support and teaching. Bonhoeffer said that this view was one of two ways to misunderstand the church and that it overlooks the fact that the new basic-relations established by God actually are real and points instead to the religious motives that in fact lead to empirical community (the missionary impulse, the need to communicate, etc.) 44 Instead, the church had much more serious implications. According to Bonhoeffer, the church is the world Christ reconciled and made into a new humanity, Christ s church. 45 Previously, humanity was the world of Adam the world of sin. 46 Bonhoeffer says before Christ redeemed humanity human beings belong together and are bound together in status corruptionis [state of corruption], 47 according to the doctrine of original sin. He explains, the human being, by virtue of being an individual, is also the human race. 48 Therefore, when, in the sinful act, the individual spirit rises up against God, thus climbing to the utmost height of spiritual individuality since this is the individual s very own deed against God, occasioned by nothing else the deed committed is at the same time the deed of the human race (no longer in the biological sense) in the individual person. 49 It is this common guilt that forms the peccatorum communio the community of sinners. 50 Bonhoeffer says, every deed is at once an individual act and one that reawakens the total sin of humanity. 51 At this point, Bonhoeffer introduces the idea of a collective person. 52 He says that God s call is experienced in much the same way as the Israelite concept of the people of God. 53 God calls each individual, but because each individual comprises the whole human race as we saw previously the call of the individual means that the collective person is also called. In that case the people must do penance as the people of God. 54 He applied this thought of the collective person not only to the peccatorum communio, but to the sanctorum communio as well. It is this collective person existing in peccatorum communio that indicates the reality of the sanctorum communio. The collective person in Adam can only be superseded by the collective person Christ existing as church-community. 55 How Christ superseded the collective person of Adam was by reconciling the world to God and forming the new collective person, Christ existing as church-community. 42 Clifford Green, Bonhoeffer: A Theology of Sociality (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999), Bonhoeffer, Sanctorum Communio, Bonhoeffer, Sanctorum Communio, Bonhoeffer, Sanctorum Communio, Bonhoeffer, Sanctorum Communio, Bonhoeffer, Sanctorum Communio, 109, italics Bonhoeffer. 48 Bonhoeffer, Sanctorum Communio, 115, italics Bonhoeffer. 49 Bonhoeffer, Sanctorum Communio, 115, italics Bonhoeffer. 50 Bonhoeffer, Sanctorum Communio, Bonhoeffer, Sanctorum Communio, Bonhoeffer, Sanctorum Communio, Bonhoeffer, Sanctorum Communio, Bonhoeffer, Sanctorum Communio, Bonhoeffer, Sanctorum Communio, 121.

16 16 Historic Influences in Bonhoeffer s Life Bonhoeffer says that this collective person, Christ existing as church-community, is a revelation of God. He writes, the reality of the church is a reality of revelation, a reality that essentially must be either believed or denied. 56 The work of Christ at the cross is the basis for the revelation. It is a work of Christ, and at the same time the very presence of Christ that cannot be separated from him. Rather there is no relation to Christ in which the relation to the church is not necessarily established as well. 57 For him the church was as necessary as Christ was because it was the very presence of Christ. The church is the presence of Christ in the same way that Christ is the presence of God. 58 Later, when Bonhoeffer wrote Ethics, he expanded the idea of this reality. 59 He wrote, there is no part of the world, no matter how lost, no matter how godless, that has not been accepted by God in Jesus Christ and reconciled to God. 60 Shortly after he says, On the contrary, in line with New Testament statements about God becoming flesh in Christ, it expresses just this that in the body of Christ all humanity is accepted, included, and borne, and that the church-community of believers is to make this known to the world by word and life. 61 As in Sanctorum Communio, Bonhoeffer reiterates that the church-community is separated from the world only by this: it believes in the reality of being accepted by God a reality that belongs to the whole world and in affirming this as valid for itself it witnesses that it is valid for the entire world. 62 We see from this a mature outworking of his preliminary statement about the church being the reality of God s church-community as a revealed reality, 63 and it expands his statement in Sanctorum Communio: Rather, God established the reality of the church, of humanity pardoned in Jesus Christ not religion, but revelation, not religious community, but church. This is what the reality of Jesus Christ means. 64 In addition, in claiming it as revelation, he obviously is claiming as much importance for the church as for scripture. In fact, that is one of his contextual arguments. He faults Ernst Troeltsch, a German theologian/philosopher who was also a sociologist, for placing the Word over the church body. But Troeltsch still thought it necessary to maintain that what matters in the Protestant concept of the church is not the church as community, but solely the word that is, precisely the objective work of the Spirit. He maintained that where the word is, there is the church, even if there is no one to hear it. This is a complete misconception of the Protestant tenet of the importance of the word, which is still to be discussed. 65 The argument that Christ takes form in the presence of the church continues further in Ethics. In Ethics we read, Ethics as formation is possible only on the basis of the form of Jesus 56 Bonhoeffer, Sanctorum Communio, Bonhoeffer, Sanctorum Communio, Bonhoeffer, Sanctorum Communio, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Ethics. Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works, vol. 6. English ed. Clifford J. Green. Trans. Reinhard Krauss, Charles C. West, and Douglas W. Stott ( Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2005), chapter one Christ, Reality, and Good. Christ, Church, and World. 60 Bonhoeffer, Ethics, 67. Regarding this concept, Clifford Green explains it as, This Christology and ecclesiology, therefore, is concerned with the rehabilitation and renovation of genuine humanity for all people. Green, Theology of Sociality, Bonhoeffer, Ethics, Bonhoeffer, Ethics, Bonhoeffer, Sanctorum Communio, Bonhoeffer, Sanctorum Communio, Bonhoeffer, Sanctorum Communio,